I'm looking for a leap in sound and am curious if it exists.

[fauxfroot]

I recently got a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ and was using the packed in USB type-c AKG earbuds to listen to music on Spotify.

For me, the sound was atrocious. It was pretty close to unlistenable. It had terrible distortion and muddiness.

I ended up going into my Spotify settings and realized the download quality was set to "medium" and quickly changed that to "very high" and also turned on the Dolby Atmos feature. The music listening experience went from basically intolerable to pretty enjoyable with just a few changes.

I'm not totally in love with the sound but am SO much happier with the very noticeable change. What I'm curious about is if there are a pair of earbuds/IEMs out there that would give me the same massive leap in overall listening enjoyment.

Regardless of price, I'm just curious if that extra very substantial leap exists if I move away from the packed in AKG earbuds. I've been looking up reviews of headphones and IEMs for maybe a week and a half pretty consistently and am trying to figure stuff out but I don't know what sound signature I'm specifically looking for.

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 598's from quite a few years back that I don't really use anymore and I think I didn't enjoy what I perceived as what's probably the "soundstage," and they also didn't seem to get very loud, maybe because of them being open back style or not being driven much by my old phone?

My musical tastes are also pretty varied which makes it a bit harder to figure out what I should look into getting.

I've looked into and heard good things about everything from inexpensive Tin T2's to the much pricier M5's, and a lot of things in between.

The massdrop HD 6xx's also have interested me because of people saying they have very good vocal intimacy.

Can anyone kind of get a gist of what I'm looking for and point me in a good direction of what to get or look into more?

Thanks a lot.

 

[buke9]

Are you listening to music with Atmos as that makes no sense to me. Sorry you can if you wish but I don’t think any music is encoded for Atmos movies yes but not music as far as I know.
Well if the soundstage is something you don’t like then yes the 6xx’s do have that more intimate sound but without a amp as you say the 598’s don’t get loud the 6xx’s will be even less so.

 

[Deolum]

As long as you listen with dolby atmos i don't think you'll find your luck in those kinds of in ears. Maybe try some bose or beats even though i really liked every Akg In ear so far that came with the Galaxys.

 

[assassin10000]

but I don't know what sound signature I'm specifically looking for.

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 598's from quite a few years back that I don't really use anymore and I think I didn't enjoy what I perceived as what's probably the "soundstage," and they also didn't seem to get very loud, maybe because of them being open back style or not being driven much by my old phone?

Your best bet is to figure out what you do and don't like about your current akg IEMs and then try and find something that matches the likes and maybe fixes or is different from your dislikes.

The other option is to try a few of the cheaper but well regarded chi-fi and narrow down your preferences.


As far as the hd598, perhaps you could try them on a better source/amp?

 

[DenverW]

If you prefer the atmos effect of a wider soundstage; a speaker like sound, then I would look for over ear headphones instead of earbuds or iems. If your old sennheisers arent getting loud enough it's a source issue, not the headphones, or the fact that they're open back. Your phone either cant power them properly, or you may be listening at unsafe volumes.

 

[silent-circuit]

The 598 and 6xxs aren't going to run off a phone directly. Any phone. You're going to need a dedicated headphone amp at minimum.

 

[PaganDL]

I recently got a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ and was using the packed in USB type-c AKG earbuds to listen to music on Spotify.

For me, the sound was atrocious. It was pretty close to unlistenable. It had terrible distortion and muddiness.

I ended up going into my Spotify settings and realized the download quality was set to "medium" and quickly changed that to "very high" and also turned on the Dolby Atmos feature. The music listening experience went from basically intolerable to pretty enjoyable with just a few changes.

I'm not totally in love with the sound but am SO much happier with the very noticeable change. What I'm curious about is if there are a pair of earbuds/IEMs out there that would give me the same massive leap in overall listening enjoyment.

Regardless of price, I'm just curious if that extra very substantial leap exists if I move away from the packed in AKG earbuds. I've been looking up reviews of headphones and IEMs for maybe a week and a half pretty consistently and am trying to figure stuff out but I don't know what sound signature I'm specifically looking for.

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 598's from quite a few years back that I don't really use anymore and I think I didn't enjoy what I perceived as what's probably the "soundstage," and they also didn't seem to get very loud, maybe because of them being open back style or not being driven much by my old phone?

My musical tastes are also pretty varied which makes it a bit harder to figure out what I should look into getting.

I've looked into and heard good things about everything from inexpensive Tin T2's to the much pricier M5's, and a lot of things in between.

The massdrop HD 6xx's also have interested me because of people saying they have very good vocal intimacy.

Can anyone kind of get a gist of what I'm looking for and point me in a good direction of what to get or look into more?

Thanks a lot.

Hi @fauxfroot,

Honestly, subjectively & personally, especially since price is open, it will depend on you what you want to spend to give a better ball park for options as well as what sort of music you listen to the most from your varied genre & what are you looking for in sound aside from clarity & imaging.

As a side note, most Senns, especially the older range, have high impedance so a good head amp is often recommended to drive them properly...

Some IEMs I suggest for you to look into in no particular order are as follows :

iBasso IT 04
iBasso IT 01
iBasso IT 01s
iBasso IT 00
iBasso AM 05
Cowon Plenue X30
ISN H40
Custom Art Fibae Black (Universal)
Audio Technica E70
Sony IER M7
Vain Sthlm Move
Helm Audio TW 5

I also suggest if & when possible, given time of this post, try to demo otherwise look for a place which has a good trial period &/or return policy.

Feel free to ask more if & when necessary as I use all these extensively.

@buke9,

Atmos for audio or music outside movies exists, though it is more a DSP optimisation thing than anything else, subjectively, depending on listening preferences, at least it isn't as bad as early surround sound DSP optimisation.
Saying that, some pro software & plugins exist to allow for Atmos to be added to audio potentailly on the fly though more & more recording gear is Atmos certified.

Hope this all makes sense.

Hope everyone has a great day !

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I recently got a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ and was using the packed in USB type-c AKG earbuds to listen to music on Spotify.

For me, the sound was atrocious. It was pretty close to unlistenable. It had terrible distortion and muddiness.

I ended up going into my Spotify settings and realized the download quality was set to "medium" and quickly changed that to "very high" and also turned on the Dolby Atmos feature. The music listening experience went from basically intolerable to pretty enjoyable with just a few changes.

I'm not totally in love with the sound but am SO much happier with the very noticeable change. What I'm curious about is if there are a pair of earbuds/IEMs out there that would give me the same massive leap in overall listening enjoyment.

Regardless of price, I'm just curious if that extra very substantial leap exists if I move away from the packed in AKG earbuds. I've been looking up reviews of headphones and IEMs for maybe a week and a half pretty consistently and am trying to figure stuff out but I don't know what sound signature I'm specifically looking for.

Your main problem there is upper tier IEMs still aren't coming out with Type-C since despite all the ideas before about just routing the analogue signal to extra pins on the USB port reversible Type C did away with that and now you have to have an integrated audiochip inside one of those dongles. Since audiophiles are more likely to have DAC-HPamps or DAPs while barring battery life wireless earbuds are more convenient for most people, well, Type C isn't catching on anytime soon.

I'd say maybe get a Fiio BT dongle so you get substantially more power without having something bulky on a cable or strapped to the phone on the go. You'll just have to make sure to charge it when you charge the phone. From there you could maybe look into the Westone UM30 Pro.

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 598's from quite a few years back that I don't really use anymore and I think I didn't enjoy what I perceived as what's probably the "soundstage," and they also didn't seem to get very loud, maybe because of them being open back style or not being driven much by my old phone?

Soundstage isn't dependent on power quantity, it's about how the drivers can reproduce an image (which in speakers means the room has to cooperate; with headphones, there are design bits like angled drivers and DSP to get around each ear hearing only one driver each), and whether the recording even has that in the first place. If you're listening to crap recordings that didn't do much for stereo imaging then you won't get clear drum roll panning for example, and wall of sound amplified guitars will be just that - a wall of sound - and worse if the lead guitar isn't panned to one side while the rhythm guitar rocks out a background riff. Ditto keyboards slightly to the rear and on one side on some metal tracks. If power has anything to do with it just needs to be clean power and enough to get loud enough without adding noise or distortion. Even distortion such as bass boost can screw with imaging though as it has a tendency to push the bass drum too far forward.

My musical tastes are also pretty varied which makes it a bit harder to figure out what I should look into getting.

I've looked into and heard good things about everything from inexpensive Tin T2's to the much pricier M5's, and a lot of things in between.

The massdrop HD 6xx's also have interested me because of people saying they have very good vocal intimacy.

Can anyone kind of get a gist of what I'm looking for and point me in a good direction of what to get or look into more?

Well you're gonna need more than a dongle for that, and even then, what they do is proportional imaging, not absolute widest let alone deepest soundstage. You just avoid for example having the cymbals too far out to the flanks and the front.

 

[leo5111]

PaganDl, how are the plenues?

 

[earmonger]

Samsung makes a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone dongle. That would give you access to a huge number of wired headphones.

Then you should think about what you want. Would you prefer big headphones -- like the Sennheisers, though a phone's not going to have enough power for the Senns and you'd be advised to try different brands -- or IEMs (like the AKGs) for portability?

Then pick a budget. If you want to go as high as $300 you can get incredible sound in an IEM that can be easily driven by your phone.

 

[lpd2]

FH5 from Fiio is the lowest entry price for what youre asking, a decisive step in the right direction, and thier multiple drivers should impress. For overear hifi headphones, my Focal Elegia are my best sounding for streaming app quality but scale upward too. There are dongle dacs and mini amps to get a bit more juice on the cheap like meizu, hidiz, qudelix, fiio. ^Yeah don't bother with dolby atmos on any two channel setup ime. I know the streaming apps have been advertising it for some reason. Its great in a surround setup though.